Her hair, his smile
by RavenclawDoctorSilveo
Summary: Yeah, so I've fixed the grammar issues in this (hopefully). Tell me if you spot any more. This is a Jily oneshot written for the prompts red and smile. Read and review, please.


Her hair whipped past him. He looked at it, shining in the candlelight. She whirled past him again, the baby in her arms. She twirled around, and their son giggled. He stared at her hair, which Harry had clenched in his little fist.

He'd always loved that hair. It was the first thing he'd ever noticed about her. That day on the train, when he'd opened the door to the compartment with a lone girl inside, the first thing he'd seen was her red hair. He'd liked that hair right then. He'd tried to start up a conversation, but she was too busy wiping her eyes. So he'd turned to the other boy sharing the compartment, and began to talk with him. A greasy-haired idiot had come in shortly after that, and sat next to the girl. James, however, didn't think him worthy of attention, so he continued to talk with Sirius, his new-found friend.

He'd liked the red hair even more when the girl got up, all flustered-like, and glared at him and Sirius. She left with the greasy-haired boy, Severus, and her hair flew out behind her as she left, a bit of it brushing his face. Sirius had laughed at him, for being infatuated, and his other two new friends, Remus and Peter, had told him more or less that he would go down in history as The Boy Who Lusted After A Feisty Girl With Red Hair But Could Not Get Her Because He Kept Making A Jerk Of Himself.

James laughed to himself as his wife cooed at their son again. Look where that got him—married to the woman of his dreams. Now, he was always telling his friends that he would be forever known as The Man Who Got Evans, The Red-Haired Girl Of His Dreams. Whenever said Girl Of His Dreams heard that, she rolled her eyes and told him he'd worked hard to get her. And it hadn't been her that changed, she always told him. He had, for the better.

He remembered when she'd told him that the first time—when she'd finally agreed to go out with him. She'd been very brisk about it.

"James Potter," she'd said. He'd grinned at her. "What?"

"You called me James."

"I called you James Potter. It means you're in trouble, or have you never been in trouble in your life?"

He'd been in trouble most of his life.

"Will you go out with me?"

She'd looked at him suspiciously. "What are you trying to get out of?"

He'd been slightly offended at that. "Who says I'm trying to get out of something? Has it ever crossed your brilliant mind that I'm just asking because I lo-like you and I want to go out with you?"

She's smirked at him then.

"What?"

"You called me brilliant."

"So will you go out with me?"

"No, Potter."

"Well, that's better than being hexed."

"Oh, I haven't ruled that out."

He'd laughed, which completely surprised both of them. He never laughed at something she said. She studied him closely. "Why'd you laugh?" She'd demanded.

He had stopped laughing at the tone of her voice. She was serious. She was possibly considering going out with him. "Because what you said was funny," he had answered honestly. "Will you go out with me now?"

"You've changed," she had decided.

He grinned at her. "Yup. Because of you."

"Me?"

"Yeah. You said I was too bigheaded."

"If you're talking about in fifth year I believe my exact words were: I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK!"

He'd winced. That had hurt.

"You've changed since then," he'd said. "You've stopped hexing me so much."

"Nope, not me. _You've_ changed, James Potter. You've changed for the better. I didn't ever budge a stick. You've stopped being so obnoxious, so thick, and now you're a better person. Isn't it happier?"

"It would be happier if you'd go out with me. Go on…what've you got to lose?"

"My sanity, if I start hanging 'round with you lot."

And that was how they'd started: James and Lily, Lily and James.

"What're you thinking about?" Lily's voice broke into his thoughts. She had stopped dancing, and Harry was asleep in her arms.

He looked up at her. "About the day you agreed to go out with me."

"Oh." Lily laughed. "Which part? The part where you asked me out? The part where I said yes? The part where you immediately proposed? The part where Black wouldn't let me alone?"

"The part with your hair," mumbled James.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "What about my hair?"

"It's just so red that it's…" _gorgeous. _"Red."

"It's so red. Wow. James Potter the poet. Hair so red it's red."

James rolled his eyes. He'd not been known for his poetry skills; in fact, he'd rather been known amongst the Marauders for his horrendous poetry skills.

"Is that the feature you like best about me, James?" Lily handed him Harry, and James took their infant son.

"Yes," he said, and reached out to stroke it. She sighed and sat down next to him on the loveseat.

"You know what I like about you?"

"What?"

"Your smile," Lily told him. "I love the way you have a different smile for everything. You've got that smile you only bring out with Sirius, Peter, and Remus, which is the one you use for pranking and practical jokes. Then there's the funny one—when you say something funny, and you expect people to laugh, like you're the greatest comedian in the world. And the way you laugh when someone else says something you think is funny—it's even cuter when you laugh at something no one else thinks is funny. And then you have the tender smile: that's the one I like most. You save it for me, and Harry, and when you talk about your parents. And the one that shows most often is the friendship one, which you use whenever you talk about Sirius, or Peter, or Remus, and sometimes with me. I love your smile, James Potter."

"Wow. That was quite something."

She smacked him on the arm.

"How about kissing my smile?"

She rolled her eyes but leaned forward anyway. Their lips met and he grinned against hers, making her laugh and hug him. They enjoyed the moment, the feeling of each other, and they temporarily forgot about the danger always lurking around the corner, the dreadful feeling that confinement brought with it, and the traitors for which they had to check at every turn.

_Lily and James, James and Lily_, thought Lily contentedly. _Just like it should be. It took me years to see that, but then I guess it took James years to live up to it. We'll always be this way, won't we? James and Lily, Lily and James. And Harry. Harry's got good parents who love each other and him, and who fit perfectly together. He'll grow up brave and strong, just like his parents._


End file.
